Cyclic behaviour of connecting beams in reinforced concrete slit shear walls

Abstract

The connecting beams in slit shear walls are generally much shorter than those in ordinary coupled shear walls and may therefore behave quite differently. In order to investigate the shear behaviour of such short connecting beams, two series of shear tests, one on monotonic behaviour and the other on cyclic behaviour, were carried out. Altogether, 24 specimens were tested. The results of the monotonic shear tests have been reported in an earlier paper. This Paper presents some additional information on the ductility of the beams as revealed by the monotonic shear tests, and the results of the cyclic shear tests. From the cyclic shear tests, the cracking and failure characteristics, reinforcement stress distribution, stiffness and strength degradations, ductility and damping capacity, etc., of the connecting beams are studied. The results are useful for evaluating the seismic performance of reinforced concrete slit shear walls.